By Mike Matejka How many federal dollars will there be for road repairs?  To feed hungry families?  How many Illinois representatives will there be in Congress?  Are Illinois communities going to get their fair share?

There’s only one way to ensure our community gets treated properly – answer the census.

The every ten year U.S. census, will kick-off on March 12, 2020.  It relies on each household to self-report the number of residents and their demographic characteristics.

A challenge with this 2020 census is that the initial outreach to households asks people to log onto a federal website to enter their census information.  For those who don’t have computers or don’t trust entering personal information on a computer, this will be a challenge. If you don’t have a computer, find someone who does to help you. Also, don’t be fooled if fake forms show up at your door.  Actual census documents have a return address of Jeffersonville, Indiana and the return address is either “U.S. Census Bureau” or “U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Census Bureau will never ask for your full social security number, bank account number, political party, immigration status or passwords.   In some areas, the Republican National Committee is sending letters labeled “2020 Congressional District Census,” on blue paper, like the official census, asking political affiliation questions. Feel free to ignore those.

If you don’t do the on-line form, a census taker will probably come to your door.   Ensure they have a U.S. Census ID badge with their name, photo and a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark.  They will also have a U.S. Census bag and a Census Bureau identified electronic devices.  Their hours of work are 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Illinois will probably lose a Congressional representative, due to population change. Let’s make sure we get our fair share of your tax dollars back locally by participating in the Census.